It’s time to get a big safe. I’m just buying too much I guess. Any advice on safe buying?  It seems that most places I can get them don’t deliver them, but I don’t have the equipment to move a 750lb hunk of steel around. Any of you have experience with safe movers? Or buying safes? Any advice would be appreciated.
8 thoughts on “Safe Advice”
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Get one with a digital lock rather than the old-style spin the knob.
Think about how long it takes to spin the knob precisely for 6 numbers. Now think about how long it takes to punch 1-2-3-4-5-6 on the phone.
As for moving it, The store had the name of a company that wuld handle the move. For $50 they’d deliver anywhere within about 20 miles.
First off, buy a bigger safe than you think you need. It will fill up, plus bigger is heavier, which makes it harder for bad guys to steal.
Last safe I got I used a U-Haul trailer (6×12) to bring it home, and a coupla good friends to get it inside.
I got the Patriot series that holds 20 long guns. It was about $700 and weighed a little under 500 lbs. My FIL, BIL, and I got it moved w/ just a pickup truck and some strongbacking.
Digital lock. The bigger the better. Don’t even think of moving it yourself.
Get a bigger one than you think you will need. I have had mine for a year and it is already filling up. A bigger safe is heavier, harder to steal.
Put it in a space protected on the sides (such as in a closet) to disallow the room needed to swing a sledgehammer forcefully. The doors of most safes is the strongest side of the safe.
Bolt it to the floor. They all come with holes in the floor to allow this.
Mine weighed 1000 pounds and it took five big guys from a bonded piano moving company recommended by the dealer to deliver it and get it up to my second floor for a cost of about $300. I didn’t even contemplate moving it with only friends. Injuries would have followed.
I got a Champion brand safe which is a really good value for what you get. It is basically a refined version of the Liberty brand of safes.
Get the S&G digital lock upgrade. It is faster and easier than a mechanical lock. The only down side is it might not work after an electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear weapon, but then you will have much bigger problems to deal with .:)
Search thehighroad.org (which is down at the moment because of a DDOS attack) for a discussion of safes. There are a couple of guys on there who sell safes for a living. In their opinion most of the stuff is junk. AmSec is a good one at a reasonable price.
For economy they recommend buying one of the inexpensive, non-branded Chinese safes with the thickest steel you can find. (Most of the branded safes for less than a grand are apparently just re-branded Chinese safes with nice decals.)
The safes sold at Sam’s Clubs while not the greatest are apparently pretty decent for the money, and Sam’s will deliver it to your house, but as I recall they won’t move it inside.
As far as moving it, there’s a national association of safe professionals. Can’t remember the name right now, but I’ve been to their Web site in the past and they have a zip code search function to find professional safe movers.
Combination locks vs. digital locks. I’m inclined towards a combination lock just because it will last longer. I already have a $55 DAC SportSafe with a digital lock for quick access to a couple of pistols.
Here’s a pretty good buying guide.
I like the last part of dan’s advice. :)
This is the one I got last Christmas. One of the things I found out is that you can remove the door making it easier to move. The door alone weighs about 175lbs.